It has not exactly been the most publicized game in the world, but Splatoon Raiders is delighting Switch players at the moment, a break from its usual genre and turning it into a surprisingly effective looter shooter. A Destiny 2 replacement after that game died. That may not actually be a joke.
Believe it or not, Splatoon Raiders has just set a Metacritic score record for Nintendo. As it stands, at a 9.4/10, that makes Splatoon Raiders the second-best user-reviewed game on the entire site. Yes, ever. That is higher than any other Nintendo game, as #1 is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with a 9.5. The next highest Nintendo game is The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask with a 9.2 (and 95 critic score).
While the current list shows Splatoon Raiders at #7 with a 9.3, it’s actually a 9.4 now if you look at the page, and the list just has not updated yet to put it at #2. This high user score is contrasted with the critic score, which sits at a “just okay” 81 at the moment with 73 reviews in since it released last Thursday. What’s the game all about? Here’s the official synopsis from Nintendo:
“HUNT FOR TREASURE IN A WILD ADVENTURE! In this single-player-focused game, play as a mechanic working with Deep Cut—a trio of swashbuckling musicians—and venture out into the mysterious Spirhalite Islands! Customize your character, kit yourself out with mechanical gadgets and ink-splattering weapons and take on waves of enemy Salmonids as you raid the islands for treasure.”
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As someone mourning the death of Destiny, I have been recommended this game by dozens of people already, and I am tempted to literally buy a Switch 2 (it is not on Switch 1) just to play it. Yes, yes, I know, I probably should already have one. But if the game is really this good? If it does loot-shooting as well as it sounds? Yeah, that is certainly attractive.
This level of user scores is wild. Metacritic user scores are often to be ignored when it comes to bombing games that often don’t deserve that level of hate. But high scores are more likely to be significant. The list does contain some of the best games ever: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Silent Hill 2, The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid and more. It also contains…Disney’s Cory in the House. Okay, maybe there was some love bombing on that one as a meme.
Will this score stay this high? Well, it’s a few hundred reviews in, so that’s something. But say, Clair Obscur has 26,000 reviews securing its score, so we’ll see. Regardless, it appears to be great.
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